Samatha Jane Colburn Nicklow, daughter of George W. Colburn and Harriet Wersing was born July 22, 1846 in Turkeyfoot Township, Somerset County Pennsylvania. She was the niece of Andrew Jackson Colburn, a prominent Attorney-at-Law and citizen of Somerset County. Samantha's great-grandfather, Robert Colburn, one of the pioneer settlers of the Jersey Settlement, Somerset County had moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania in the year 1770. He served as a private in Captain Joseph Luse's Western Battalion, Monroe County, New Jersey. Robert Colburn's farm is located near Draketown in Loser Turkeyfoot Township.

At sixteen, Samantha Jane Colburn married Daniel Nicklow and they had three children; Mary Perod (Molly) Null, Leila Gertrude and Orville David. Daniel was a farmer with many farms throughout the Petersburg area. They resided in Petersburg after their marriage.

Samantha Jane, a very bright, energetic and very ambitious lady, started a Millinery Shop in a building adjoining her home. She imported fancy articles and trimmings for her hats from many large cities. Each month, when her business was flourishing, she had two trimmers travel from Pittsburg to do special orders and to trim hats for the many ladies who came from all over Western Pennsylvania. She also employed two seamstresses to keep up with the orders. Her millinery business was very successful.

During the summers, Samantha Jane often traveled to Salisbury, Maryland for a vacation. Her descendents often wondered how she made the trip.....by train or by canal? About this time, (my father, George Nicklow said,) a salesman of hats talked Samantha Jane into changing the spelling of her last name to "Nicola".

This she continued until her dying day although her husband Daniel Nicklow never changed the spelling of his last name, continuing to use the same spelling he used when he was in the Civil War. We say that Samantha Jane was a forerunner of the "Women's Lib Movement" and one of the first, if not the first female entrepreneur in Petersburg.

In later years, she became deaf and in order to aid her hearing, she used a horn. She pretty well ran Daniel and was always telling him to do something. He, in turn, would fuss at her knowing full well that she could not hear a word he said!!

Daniel Nicklow and Samantha Jane Nicola are buried in Addison Cemetery.

This information was taken from records for the DAR, Civil War and from my father's memory. He is now in his 95th year and remembers many incidents in the family.

PLEASE NOTE: This information is from a book published by the "Old Petersburg-Addison Historical Society" and summited by me for the desecendants of Petersburg-Addison families.

Sumitted by: Lawson L. Duckworth for the "Old Petersburg-Addison Historical Society"

(llduckworth@hotmail.com)